Norwegian Epic Cruise Review by Leolagrange123: Passenger satisfaction is kept to a minimum

Norwegian Epic

Overall Member Rating

Passenger satisfaction is kept to a minimum

Sail Date:
May 2013
Destination:
Mediterranean
Embarkation:
Barcelona

I just returned from a 7 day cruise from Barcelona, and was mostly disapponted in my onboard experiences. The cabin steward, Kenneth (who never came by to introduce himself-I just got his name off the tv in the cabin) for the first 2 days of the cruise never left me a blue pool deck towel in the room, I had to ask the first 2 days (the second day was a day at sea..I felt I shouldn't have had to ask twice) and felt a bit silly asking for one at the deck's towel exchange area, and being told "no" I had to get it in the cabin. I also had only one towel animal left on the bed the whole week, while other passengers were mentioning the different animals left each day in their cabin. I also found a previous passenger's socks under my bed, and had no comment card left at the end of the cruise (for obvious reasons!) Midway during the cruise I mentioned my dissatisfaction at the passenger service desk, but the only reply I got was I could reduce my gratuity at the end of the cruise, which I More
did, but would have rather had the issue dealt with, instead of being unhappy. I've been on many cruises, and many cruise lines and have never experienced such a disregard for passengers.

I also lost a 2 Euro coin the the security screening device, getting back on board from a port. Questioning this to the security staff went nowhere. (Do they get to keep any money passengers lost there?) I was met with total indifference, and again, I went to the passenger desk to ask about this, and pretty much received the same attitude.

I'm guessing passenger satisfaction is non -existant, and takes a back seat to constant nickel and diming passengers and getting the most money as possible out of them every second of the cruise. The first day I got off the elevator on deck 14 which is the spa, and was grabbed by a spa staff member, placed in a chair, and was sprayed and back and neck rubbed, and received an intense sales pitch for the next half hour, a total waste of my time. Most of the staff don't seem very pleasant, or enjoy their jobs. A fellow passenger trying to get a drink from a passing waiter, had asked him if he is working while on his break (which the waiter totally didn't get)

I also found the dining room wait staff in the Manhattan dining room pretty much inattentive and indifferent as well, the service was very slow, yet they were constantly rushing past my table, for what reason who knows. One night I sat down a few minutes late joining friends already seated, with no place setting at the empty seat. A waitress walked by, looked at me, and kept going. At her next passing by, I had to ask her if it was too much trouble to get a place setting. It occured to me that it might be. The food choices there were limited, and the quality was mostly mediocre. Late night snack options were very poor. Besides room service and the pizza (for a delivery fee), both of which I did not partake in, there was only O'Sheehans. I ate there a few times after midnight, and didn't care for the 5 things on the menu, one of which was a very small tuna sandwich and chips, really just a kids meal not suitable for satisfying an adult. With automatic gratuities now included in the bill, there is no incentive whatsover for these people to do their job to the best of their abilities, or maybe they are, and are just incompetant. The food offered at the Garden Buffet was plentiful, but was usually so packed with people, that any food taken that was supposed to be hot, was cold by the time you walked around for 15 or 20 minutes and found a table to sit down at.

I also found the elevators positioned at each end of every deck too small and constantly overcrowded for a ship this size.

There were things I liked about this cruise very much: The ports, the choice of excursions (overpriced as they were) the studio cabins with it's own lounge, the shows I saw (Blue Man Group and Legends in Concert-which a few on this site did not like, but it sure beats alot of the lame amatuerish stuff I've seen in the past that passes for entertainment on most other cruise lines) but the total indifference to passenger satisfaction needs to be worked on and improved, and really did detract from my total cruise experience.